Advisory Report Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture (Full Report)
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Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture Table of contents Procedure ........................................................................................................... 4 Structure of the document .................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 5 1.1 Background and reason ........................................................................ 5 1.2 Objective and question ......................................................................... 6 1.3 Guiding principles ................................................................................ 6 2. Circular agriculture ..................................................................................... 7 3. Feeding animals in circular agriculture ..................................................... 11 4. The value of manure in circular agriculture .............................................. 15 5. Animal housing in circular agriculture ...................................................... 16 6. What animals are suitable for circular agriculture? .................................. 18 7. Concluding analysis and conclusions ........................................................ 20 8. Recommendations .................................................................................... 22 References ....................................................................................................... 23 Annexes ............................................................................................................ 25 Annex 1: Interviews with experts ...................................................................25 1 Role of livestock farming in circular agriculture .......................................27 2 Risks and opportunities for animal welfare and health .............................27 2.1 Food .................................................................................................27 2.2 Animal husbandry systems ..................................................................29 2.3 Animal species, breeds and breeding ....................................................31 3 Risks of animal disease and public health risks .......................................32 4 Consequences for non-farmed animals ..................................................33 5 The animal in research agendas ............................................................34 6 Allocation of roles between stakeholders ................................................35 7 Experts’ comments .............................................................................36 8 Experts’ recommendations ...................................................................36 9 Conclusions drawn from the interview session with experts ......................37 Annex 2: Participants in the expert meeting held on 14 January 2020 .................39 Publication details ............................................................................................ 40 RDA.2020.045 RDA Advisory Report - Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture 3 Procedure This advisory report from the Council on Animal Affairs (Raad voor de Dierenaangelegenheden, RDA) was prepared by a working group composed of RDA members Prof.dr.ir. I.J.M. de Boer (chair), Dr.ir. G.B.C. Backus, W.T.A.A.G.M. van den Bergh, Prof.dr.ir. J.W. Erisman, J.A.M. Huijbers and Prof.dr.ir. B. Kemp. The working group was expanded to include Dr.ir. R.A. Jongeneel, Wageningen University and Research (Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group), and Dr. L.M. Stadig, Young RDA. The working group was assisted by Ir. R. Pothoven, deputy secretary, and Ir. M.H.W. Schakenraad, secretary of the RDA team. For the purpose of preparing the report, the working group held four meetings, conducted individual interviews with the experts listed in Annex 1 and held an expert meeting with the experts listed in Annex 2. The draft advisory report was submitted to the entire Council and Young RDA for assessment. This advisory report therefore is a product of the RDA as a whole. Structure of the document This advisory report begins with an introductory chapter on the reason, the central question and the guiding principles applied (Chapter 1). In Chapter 2 we discuss the objective and principles of circular agriculture, the role animals can play in it and the interface between circular agriculture and animal welfare. This is followed by a discussion of the possible consequences of a transition to circular agriculture for animals (Chapters 3-6). The report ends with a concluding analysis (Chapter 7) and conclusions and recommendations for further actions (Chapter 8). RDA.2020.045 RDA Advisory Report - Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture 4 1. Introduction 1.1 Background and reason In the past decade, the Dutch agricultural sector has focused on increasing production and reducing costs. This has compromised the quality of public values, such as biodiversity, soil, air, water, nature, landscape, climate and animal welfare. The wish has now been expressed to take the next step in the development of agriculture and our food system in a manner that prevents the further erosion of, and even restores, the quality of those public values. In her vision document ‘Agriculture, nature and food: valuable and connected’ published in September 2018, the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, states that it is essential to transition to circular agriculture (LNV, 2018). Even though this vision for the future is widely shared, it also raises numerous questions. What exactly is circular agriculture? Do animals play a role in circular agriculture, and if so, how can we protect and improve animal welfare in circular agriculture? Is animal welfare sufficiently on the radar in the discussions on circular agriculture? The livestock farming sector forms an explicit part of the debate on the implementation of circular agriculture. On the one hand, it is clear that the current form of livestock farming is a serious drain on raw materials (land and water) and significantly contributes to environmental problems, such as acidification, eutrophication, climate change and loss of biodiversity (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). On the other hand, the livestock farming sector can specifically contribute to closing cycles because animals can convert biomass that humans are unable or unwilling to eat (brewers’ grains, food waste, grass and hay) into food, manure and other ecosystem services, and thus recycle nutrients and carbon that would otherwise be lost to the food system (Van Zanten et al., 2018; 2019). This applies not only to ‘traditional’ animals, such as cows, sheep, pigs and chickens, but also to insects, for instance. Insects can live on biomass that is unsuitable for human or animal consumption and subsequently serve as a source of protein for humans or animals. The discussions on the transition to circular agriculture, which is currently being considered, are in full swing. However, the RDA has found that in the various schools of thought, studies and visions insufficient light has been shed on the consequences for animals to date. Despite the increasing attention paid to animal welfare in recent years, that attention largely seems to be lacking in the discussions on circular agriculture. This has prompted the RDA to examine the effects of circular agriculture on animals. RDA.2020.045 RDA Advisory Report - Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture 5 1.2 Objective and question The RDA aims to develop a vision on how the transition to circular agriculture can bring about an improvement in animal welfare (including health), in which animals constitute the starting point. By developing and disseminating that vision, the RDA aims to seek attention for the consequences of a transition to circular agriculture for animals. The central question in this advisory report was: "What implications will the transition to circular agriculture have for animal welfare?" 1.3 Guiding principles The RDA’s argumentation focuses on the animal's perspective and puts the animal first. The RDA has its own plan and planning schedule, but will actively approach the parties concerned to ensure that the RDA makes a useful contribution to the discussion on circular agriculture. The following guiding principles were applied in this advisory report: - The focus initially lies on current farm animals (production animals). A transition to circular agriculture is also likely to have consequences for wildlife. A further question is what the optimisation of cycles in agriculture and food production means for the countless domestic and hobby animals. For the sake of keeping the topic manageable, the RDA has initially limited its scope to the current farm animals, including animals that can be farmed in the foreseeable future (e.g. insects). - Animals will play a role in our food system in the years ahead. We have not discussed the ethical question whether we should keep animals at all for the production of our food in the context of this advisory report, but assume that animals can play a role in our food system. However, keeping animals for food production should in no way have consequences for animal welfare. RDA.2020.045 RDA Advisory Report - Animal Welfare in Circular Agriculture 6 2. Circular agriculture The circularity concept has its origins in both agro-ecology and industrial ecology and is aimed at preserving and managing natural resources